Mark 9-10

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Transfiguration

9 And Jesus was saying to them, “^(A)Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

^2 (B)Six days later, Jesus *took with Him ^(C)Peter and ^[a]James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; ³ and ^(D)His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴ Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter *said to Jesus, “^(E)Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; ^(F)let us make three ^[b]tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud ^[c]formed, overshadowing them, and ^(G)a voice ^[d]came out of the cloud, “^(H)This is My beloved Son, ^[e]listen to Him!” ⁸ All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

^9 (I)As they were coming down from the mountain, He ^(J)gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, ^[f]until the Son of Man rose from the dead. ¹⁰ They ^[g]seized upon ^[h]that statement, discussing with one another ^[i]what rising from the dead meant. ¹¹ They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that ^(K)Elijah must come first?” ¹² And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of ^(L)the Son of Man that ^(M)He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that Elijah has ^[j]indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

All Things Possible

^14 (N)When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^(O)amazed and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” ¹⁷ And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸ and ^[k]whenever it seizes him, it ^[l]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and ^[m]stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹ And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ They brought ^[n]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ ^(P)All things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that ^(Q)a crowd was ^[o]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I ^[p]command you, come out of him and do not enter him ^[q]again.” ²⁶ After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. ²⁸ When He came ^(R)into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Death and Resurrection Foretold

^30 (S)From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. ³¹ For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^(T)The Son of Man is to be ^[r]delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” ³² But ^(U)they ^[s]did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^33 (V)They came to Capernaum; and when He ^[t]was in ^(W)the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(X)they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “^(Y)If anyone wants to be first, ^[u]he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ Taking a child, He set him ^[v]before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “^(Z)Whoever receives ^[w]one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Dire Warnings

^38 (AA)John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^(AB)we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ^40 (AC)For he who is not against us is ^[x]for us. ⁴¹ For ^(AD)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink ^[y]because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

⁴² “^(AE)Whoever causes one of these ^[z]little ones who believe to stumble, it ^[aa]would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he ^[ab]had been cast into the sea. ^43 (AF)If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into ^[ac](AG)hell, into the ^(AH)unquenchable fire, ⁴⁴ [^[ad]where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ⁴⁵ If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into ^[ae](AI)hell, ⁴⁶ [^[af]where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ^47 (AJ)If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into ^[ag](AK)hell, ^48 (AL)where their worm does not die, and ^(AM)the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but ^(AN)if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ^[ah]make it salty again? ^(AO)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(AP)be at peace with one another.”

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

10 ^(AQ)Getting up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, ^(AR)according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

² Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to ^[ai]divorce a wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “^(AS)Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and ^[aj]send her away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “^[ak](AT)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But ^(AU)from the beginning of creation, God ^(AV)made them male and female. ^7 (AW)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother^[al], ^8 (AX)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰ In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(AY)Whoever ^[am]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(AZ)if she herself ^[an]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (BA)And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; ^(BB)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(BC)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He ^(BD)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17 (BE)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(BF)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to ^(BG)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments, ‘^(BH)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept ^(BI)all these things from my youth up.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(BJ)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But at these words ^[ao]he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “^(BK)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples ^(BL)were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ^25 (BM)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to Him, “^[ap]Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus *said, “^(BN)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28 (BO)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^(BP)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ^30 [aq]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[ar]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(BQ)the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But ^(BR)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (BS)They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(BT)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(BU)the Son of Man will be ^[as]delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[at]hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ They will mock Him and ^(BV)spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

^35 [au](BW)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” ³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³⁷ They said to Him, “^[av]Grant that we ^(BX)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(BY)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(BZ)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink ^(CA)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; ^(CB)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (CC)Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with ^[aw]James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you, ^(CD)but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man ^(CE)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[ax]life a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

^46 (CF)Then they *came to Jericho. And ^(CG)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the ^(CH)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, ^(CI)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “^(CJ)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “^(CK)Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “^[ay](CL)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; ^(CM)your faith has ^[az]made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.